Celtachor: In The Halls Of Our Ancient Fathers

Not always as effective in execution as it might be, the debut full length release from Irish, Black Celtic Metal act Celtachor shows undoubted signs of promise. If also some areas that definitely need attention. Reading through the booklet that accompanies In The Halls Of Our Ancient Fathers, the seven songs, well six and an introduction that make up this short debut are actually a set of demos - and it shows. Sound wise things are a little all over the place, with the brutal riffs being blunted by a fuzzy finish and the whistles and pipes that give this act their distinctive Celtic feel, often sounding removed from the music itself. Unfortunately this leaves the main trademark of this band feeling bolted onto the Black Metal approach and far from, as I'm sure was intended, vital to the end product.

However put these all too obvious drawbacks to the side and Celtachor are a band who are trying to offer a fresh take on what is fast becoming a rather cluttered and tired genre. The riffs are sludgy and the drums (other than sounding like they were recorded in the house next door) offer up a simplistic, yet solid base. The vocals from Stephen Roche - who also plays keys and provides a variety of whistles are maybe slightly too one dimensional, with his approach being to snarl-talk in tune, rather than to full out growl. His aggressive attack does sit well with the songs, but doesn't exactly make for a dynamic experience when the album is listened to from start to finish.

Tracks like "Rise Of The Lugh", "Rider's Of The Fomor" and "The Wavesweeper" certainly grind with intent and punch with ferocity, however whether there's really enough here to allow Celtachor to triumph over the obvious sound quality issues, is another matter at this stage.

I'm, always wary of judging a band on the strength of their demos, but when the likes of Celtachor release them into the public domain, then they have to be ranked on their merits. In The Halls Of Our Ancient Fathers isn't a bad release, but then neither can it truly be said to be anything other than a band trying to find their niche.

Track Listing
1. Nemed's Wake
2. Rise of Lugh
3. In the Hall's of Nuada
4. A Warning to Balor
5. Rider's of the Fomor
6. The Son's of Tuireann and the Blood Fine
7. The Wavesweeper

Added: March 24th 2012
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Celtachor on BandCamp
Hits: 1837
Language: english

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